Power of the Pen

Painful moments, trying times
Paychecks that amount to dimes
Why bother to submit my rhymes?
Because they heal my brother
Striving just to be a vessel
Mixing a balm, my pen a pestle
A warm safe place in which to nestle
Should we not comfort each other?

And not for monetary gain
To some this idea seems insane
Before the world my life I've lain
In black and white, these pages
Confirm the power of the pen
Can help us to begin again
To see where someone else has been
Share wisdom of the ages

So still I will hasten to write
From my pen release the might
That flows from its tip and into sight
And before all bares my soul
That you may know what I have known
Glean the experiences I've sown
My joys and sorrows become your own
Without having paid my toll

PUBLISH YOUR OWN BOOK OF POETRY

Editor’s Note

The number one question our editors receive is—what do the editors and judges look for when judging the contest? The number one answer we give is creativity. Unlike prose, writing composed in everyday language, poetry is considered a creative art and requires a different type of effort and a certain level of depth. Of the thousands of poems entered in each contest, the ones that catch our judges’ eyes are the ones that remove us, even just slightly, from the scope of everyday life by using language that is interesting, specific, vivid, obscure, compelling, figurative, and so on. Oftentimes, poems are pulled aside for a second look based simply on certain words that intrigued the reader. So first and foremost, be sure your poetry is written using creative language. Take general ideas and make them personal. In his infamous book De/Compositions: 101 Good Poems Gone Wrong, W. D. Snodgrass imparts, “We cannot honestly discuss or represent our lives, any more than our poems, without using ideational language.”